Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.5 /Trend, E. Kosolapova/
The Customs Union, which currently includes Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, should not hurry with expanding itself into economically weak countries, Kazakh political analyst Dosym Satpayev said.
"Kazakhstan has always felt that there is no sense in hurrying to expand the Customs Union, it is necessary to take into account the experience of the European Union, which is having problems because of its overly quick growth. Such problems can also befall the Customs Union, if states requiring too much economic aid are admitted. In this regard, there may be difficulties, because the main financial burden will fall on Kazakhstan and Russia," Satpayev told Trend in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.
On September 3, the presidents of Russia and Armenia in a joint statement issued after the summit talks in Moscow, said that Armenia intends to join the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia and subsequently participate in the formation of the Eurasian Economic Community.
"It is not about the quantity, but about the quality (of union members) In economic terms, Armenia will probably need support, investment in the economy," Satpayev said.
At the same time, he said that Russia is interested in admitting an increasing number of states to the Customs Union, since for Russia it is more a political union rather than economic.
"For Russia, it is important to have allies and partners in the post-Soviet area that can be connected with it by a common integration project. After the possible change of power in Kazakhstan and Belarus, these countries may express their wish to get out of the Customs Union, and Russia may be left alone. Russia understands this and now is actively trying to increase the quantitative mass around itself," Satpayev said.
According to him, accession to the Customs Union is important for Armenia in terms of labor migration, as a great number of its citizens live and work in Russia, but being in a single integrated space will facilitate their employment. In addition, the country expects to get Russia's support in the sphere of economy, as well as in the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Meanwhile, according to Satpayev, Armenia will attempt to increase cooperation with the EU.
However, success in this direction is much less likely, as Armenia's economic relations with European countries are weak and there are no common borders.